je vous passe un mail de l'auteur de la règle paru sur le ML Strategos_rules définissant les changements de cette excellente règle pour la deuxieme edition :
"I have just written an article for the November Slingshot about the
new edition, and the editor has kindly given permission to include the
details here.
The central aim remains exactly as before – to achieve a simple but
realistic `big picture' simulation of around 50 major land battles in
the last five centuries BC. I have retained all the key principles
which proved so popular in the first edition – the use of a 5 x 4
square grid which obviates the need for unrealistically precise
measurement and unit placement, a very high premium on the quality of
troops and generals so that sheer numbers do not yield ahistorical
advantages, the use of `spent' status to allow superior armies to
become progressively more exhausted without losing whole units, and
the balancing of asymmetric confrontations through a simple handicap
system which gives both sides an equal chance of winning in game terms.
So what has changed in the new edition? I would highlight six major
areas, the first of which is an even greater emphasis on clarity of
presentation. I have rewritten the entire rules from scratch, giving
each paragraph its own heading so that key points may be found more
easily. The rules also incorporate dozens of cross references, and
several new tables to summarise important information. I have
retained an extended example of play, but made it punchier and better
focused, with one turn per page. This whole process has benefited
greatly from the flourishing discussion on this yahoo site, so many
thanks to you all (and please keep the comments coming).
The second key development is the incorporation of lessons from the
extensive playing experience of the past three years, which I have
used for fine tuning of the rules system. The double player turn
available to brilliant generals to reflect surprise manoeuvring has
been made less devastating in terms of straightforward frontal combat,
heavy infantry are now much less able to use the board edges as
artificial bulwarks against enemy cavalry, cross-river attacks have
been made easier so as to avoid the development of Mexican stand-offs,
the effects of surprise have been increased to make it more than an
initial inconvenience, and the victory penalty for routing has been
reduced to make it easier for outclassed armies to win the game by
giving the enemy a bloody nose even if they then panic and run. These
modifications have been trailed extensively on this yahoo site, and
are now fully integrated into the rules themselves. I have also taken
the opportunity to make many other new tweaks, to add even more to the
historicity of the simulation.
The third major change is the streamlining of the game system to
increase further the speed and ease of play. Instead of the first
attacking unit in each zone launching two successive attacks, it now
conducts just one more powerful one. Any strong attack may now
inflict two hits rather than one, and the potential for elephants to
run amok has been seamlessly integrated into this new approach. In a
similar vein, lead defending units must now be designated at all times
(ending the often confusing succession of choices about who is
attacking whom), and generals no longer have `personal commands' which
must be tracked separately, instead providing automatic exemptions
from the first activation and attack bonus costs in their zone or
group. I have also trimmed the complexity of several rarely used
rules such as those for scythed chariots and for the morale of
undeployed units.
The fourth key innovation is that I have increased the fluidity of
manoeuvre during the battle. In the first edition, the contest often
developed into a static slogging match resolved only when one battered
army dissolved in rout after rolling a one for morale. Now, morale
results are less variable, but it is much easier to retire
deliberately to reach more defensible terrain (as at Pydna), to draw
the enemy into a pocket (as at Cannae), or simply to trade space for
time. Whereas the early retirement of parts of the armies at battles
like Cunaxa or the Sambre was previously handled through the
possibility of a terrible initial morale roll, it is now covered more
through deliberate retrograde manoeuvres. The result is to make play
more tactical and less dependent on critical luck. I also now allow
units to leave the field across any board edge, and provide an
incentive for contingents in a losing battle to `withdraw forwards'
after breaking through part of the enemy line as at Bagradas or Trebia.
The fifth change is a much greater emphasis on the multi-format nature
of the game system. The first edition was explicitly designed for
figure gaming, but its simple grid-based approach made it eminently
adaptable to other formats, as shown by Richard Jeffrey Cook's
excellent computerized version. The new edition takes this
adaptability even further. It is still just as suited to figure
gaming, using any desired numbers, scale and basing system, and with
no need for special preparation except for a few dots or trees to mark
the corners of the zones. However, I will also be creating for free
download new computerized graphics for each scenario. These can
either be printed out for play as a board game, or used on screen by
simply sliding the unit counters over the maps with Dale Larson's
superb freeware Cyberboard programme. Hence, you will be able to play
any scenario (including by e-mail against distant opponents), whether
you have figures for that battle or not.
The final, and most significant, development is in the scenarios.
These already incorporate masses of detail and research comparable to
the `army lists' published separately for other rules systems, and in
the new edition they have been extensively upgraded. Army and terrain
details have been reconsidered and often revised for greater
historicity, as discussed in my Sambre Battle Day report elsewhere in
this issue. As requested, I now include more information on which
actual contingents the various units represent, so appropriate figures
may be selected. Most important of all, each scenario now gives
details of a suggested `historical' deployment at the end of turn one,
so that players who wish to refight battles using the actual initial
layout of the opposing troops may do so. I have also added
comprehensive maps for every one of the 48 battles, so players may see
at a glance where terrain and units are placed. These changes mean
that the new scenario section is much bigger than hitherto, making the
booklet as a whole considerably longer than before.
We planned at first to incorporate even more new features into this
edition, such as including variants for other periods (like Richard's
Maryannu chariot era provisions) and packaging the booklet with a CD
incorporating the computer versions and other supporting material.
However, in the interests of timely production and keeping costs down,
we have decided to go just with the new expanded booklet for now.
Supplementary material is easily made available through internet
download as at present, and this is also the most convenient framework
for rules updates and discussions. We hope to produce a new CD for
separate distribution in due course, containing a revised version of
Richard's fully computerized system, as well as other things like a
French translation of the rules. However, the important thing is to
make available the new edition itself, and this should be on sale
before the end of 2005.
Phil"
Moi, je dis vivemment la fin de l'année
